So I have watched a few videos today and also read about some of you killing insane amounts of pigs in a night. My question is if you are shooting that much at pigs (a lot of videos show more misses than hits, especially once they scatter) are you using hunting ammo of fmj? I know I'm a cheap *** but shooting hundreds of rounds of hunting ammo in a night doesn't seem feasible, especially considering the ammo shortage. Or maybe a combo with the first round being hunting since you have time and can wait for a good shot and then the rest fmj? Maybe some of you not only stocked up on plinking ammo but on hunting ammo as well.
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I run a brass catcher and reload. Stocked up on components a long time ago. IMO FMJ is no bargain when it often takes multiple hits to bring one down with it. It may be cheaper per round but you have to shoot more of it to get as many kills. Especially with marginal hits on running animals. Not cheaper in the end. The places I hunt they want them dead. Crop damage is very expensive compared to ammo costs. Just my take on it. -
A typical night for us 30-45 hogs per night with 2-3 shooters. I was shooting a 556 AR and shooting only hunting ammo (75 Gr Hornady BTHP). I have since switched over to a 22 Creedmoor running hand loaded Hornady 80 Gr ELDMs. I’m killing only a few less hogs per night, but I’m shooting tremendously less. I’m now shooting 20-25 rounds per night vs 75-100. The caliber doesn’t make as much of a difference as does the fact I have to slow myself down and make my shots count.
Either way I’m filling stocked up on hunting ammo and components to handload them. Jet bro is right about FMJ not being a bargain when it takes more to put them down. I shot 4 hogs with 62 Gr green tip a few weeks ago, and had 80+ percentage hits. Each hog took 3-4 hits when they would’ve been 1-2 hits with the 75 BTHP.Last edited by TX03RUBI; 02-10-2021, 05:51 PM.Comment
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You know what they say, the first round counts as much as all the rounds after that combinedComment
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He’s right. When you have a 25 round mag full of Grendel and pigs are still running, even though they are low percentage shots, it’s HARD not to take the shots lol. Some hit. Some don’t.Originally posted by TX03RUBI View Post
I get carried away with an AR. I start shooting fast. I make a lot of impacts. Lots of wounded hogs. Not a ton drop on the spot. Lots limp out of the field. Bolt gun is the way to go if you can run a bolt fast.Comment
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The reason I’m running 10 round mags in my Grendel now lol...Comment
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It sure is easy to get trigger happy with an AR. The more you can slow down and really make shots count the better off you are. I have done it both ways, kill about the same number of hogs. But more self control sure helps the round count and puts more down in the field, fewer escapees. It is hard to do though. Some nights I'm good at it, some nights I suck.
Like others are saying I think I may swap to a bolt gun with 10 round mags and try it. I shoot a right handed bolt gun left handed, and from a tripod or steady rest I can run one pretty fast without losing my grip and having to reposition my trigger hand.Comment
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I won't shoot fmjs at critters. I shoot 55 gr sp or hp out of a .223 if running thermal. If I could find the heavier stuff cheaper would run it but the cheap cheap 55 gr stuff works good enough for me.
Want to get a KS47 built and run 7.62x39 122 or 123 gr sp. Can get them for .50 a trigger pull not bad at all if it takes one or 2 per hog to get it down.
And like mentioned above it is really easy to get carried away sending rounds down range with an AR-15 but I do it to have fun and I only go out 2-3 times a year so not really worried about it if I drop $40-50 in ammo in a night, totally worth it to me anyway.Comment
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When I want to get cheap with my 556 and still kill pigs good, this is what I do.
I get cheap bulk once fired LC brass from a marksmanship unit contact I have for $50/1500 cases (it is good brass, all shot in match chambers). I have some quick ways of uniforming it, then I load it on my Dillon 550 progressive. The bullet I use is the 62 Hornady BTHP that you used to could get from Mid South, back when you could actually buy bullets. They were 11 cents apiece. Doing it that way I could load rounds for 28 cents a round that were high quality (shot about 1 moa in my gun), and had pretty good terminal ballistics on pigs.
At that point a 30 round mag is less than $9, with ammo that is way more accurate and lethal than the FMJ stuff. If a guy wants to put some effort into it there are different ways to attack the ammo problem.
The 62 BTHP was what I was shooting when I got into this sounder. 14 rounds fired and by the time it was over I recovered 5 pigs, some in the peanuts, some in the cotton. The big sow out in the cotton was hit twice (probably gut shot) but she circled all the way around and got out of the field, never found her.
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Me and my buddy do 123 boom technique. Lol haven’t missed a pair yet. 2 head shots then spray and maybe get an extraComment
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Kill to eat! Pork is expensive HEBComment
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if you spend $5k on a thermal , $1k on a gun .. pretty sure ammo is irrelevant in comparison... my choice is 22lr 50 grain subsonic (only because the 60 SSS just don't shoot that consistent).. i rarely shoot more than one hog at a time .. too much cleaning ... second choice is 110 grain 300 blk .. different flavors barnes, lehigh defense, all hand rolled, i don't buy rifle ammo. if i shoot them from the cabin , it's almost 200 yards, i'll hit them with 168 grain speer gold dot 308 ... I would never shoot an entire herd on my place , i don't farm and don't want them gone , i want to enjoy shooting them every time i go .. now if i was invited to one of these big places where you setup in fields and have hundreds of opportunities i'd probably load up some heavy partition 223 and run 30 round mags... but I don't get those opportunities , so sneaking up on them with a 22lr is much more fun... 17 hmr does surprisingly well too .. now that i finally got me a video cable for my trijicon reap-ir , i'll probably start doing some videos ... when we get out of the ice age ...Comment
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Originally posted by imyomama View Post
My ammo bill isn’t that much, but I only hunt he’d for a short period of time each year. I’ve got a buddy that hunts 5 nights a week during that same period, and 2-3 the rest of the year. His ammo bill for a month was insane even before all this mess.Comment
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I think the main thing to keep in mind is different folks have different motivations when it comes to killing pigs and coyotes. For some it is sport, for some it is about protecting their crops or livestock. I live in a farming and ranching community. My family, my neighbors, my friends are farmers and ranchers. Certain times and places, they need certain species killed or suppressed to the maximum degree possible for financial reasons. Planting time and harvest time gets maximum pressure on pigs, calving time get maximum pressure on coyotes. I do hunt a lot for sport. But during certain times it is serious damage control work. When a farmer is facing $3-4K of replanting costs, he doesn't care about ammo price. Maybe now he no longer even has the moisture in the ground to replant and he missed his window. That newborn calf that got killed was going to be an $800 yearling next year.
My main thermal was paid for in part (significant part, lol) by a large rancher I hunt coyotes on. Dad killed coyotes for him for 20 years before me. That rancher paid that money on my thermal because in his words, "I know not all coyotes are calf killers, but some are, and every one they kill is money out of my pocket. When a coyote gets a taste for killing calves there is only one way to take care of it. When that happens I call you, and there have been many times you have fixed that for me. You put a lot of time and effort into helping me. I have been looking for a way to pay you back for that and now I know how I can. So you are taking this money." He isn't a man you argue with so I gratefully accepted his gift.
Not saying anyone here in this discussion is right or wrong. Everyone has their own reason why they hunt the way they do according to the goal they want to accomplish. I'm just saying that looking at what a specific hunters goal is helps explain a lot about why they do what they do. My goals and my methods can change month by month. I always like seeing how other folks do it and hearing their reasons why. I sure have learned a lot that way as long as I keep an open mind.Comment
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how come i dont hear of anyone using a 308!
way more dead hogs in the feildComment
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